Clearwater artist painting life one ultrasound at a time

Artist painting life one ultrasound at a time

FOX 13 Photojournalist Barry Wong highlights Clearwater artist Heather Tapia, who has helped parents celebrate milestone moments by hand-painting ultrasounds for pregnant women.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - For 25 years, artist Heather Tapia has helped parents celebrate milestone moments during pregnancy.

"I think the most fun part is that you get a new story, and you get to work on a new family every time," Tapia said.

Heather Tapia is working on painting hand-painting ultrasounds.

Tapia tells those stories by hand-painting ultrasounds. An old art teacher suggested the idea that Tapia should paint her own ultrasound after she had completed all her work during a class.

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"I painted them, and then I gave it to my husband as a present," Tapia said. "People were like, you should do this for other people, so that's how it started."

The painting of her own ultrasound that Tapia painted.

As she meets with clients, they usually decide which ultrasound they want painted first.

Tapia has painted traditional ultrasounds in both the early and late months of pregnancy. As technology improved, she also painted three-dimensional ones.

After deciding on the source image, Tapia asks a series of questions to get a vibe of the feel of the artwork.

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One of Heather Tapia's paintings.

"I did one in the summer. We incorporated hummingbirds because that meant something to them, and we incorporated Dahlia flowers and like other details," Tapia explained. "If there's something in particular they want for their life, then we add that in there."

Tapia uses oil paints that come in stick form. She uses her fingers to lay down paint and blend together the image.

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"I think what they want is to capture that moment, that special moment when you first see your kid. It's amazing," Tapia said. "You’re like so excited. First (you) hear the heartbeat, (then you) see the baby. It becomes very real that you have this miracle, this life growing inside of you."

Tapia cherishes going along for the ride with her clients, often watching the kids grow. She’s worked with some families with multiple children, even grandchildren.

"The number one thing I would like my clients to feel and experience when they receive the ultrasound painting, is that they re-experience that same happiness and joy of that moment when they first saw the ultrasound," Tapia said. "But now they get to have it in their home, and they will see that every time and be reminded of this very special part of their life."

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